Average salaries in India in 2026 range from ₹4.8 LPA at the entry level to ₹18 LPA+ for mid-level tech roles. IT and software remain the highest-paying sector, followed by BFSI, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing. Hospitality and retail sit at the lower end. The national average across all industries and experience levels is roughly ₹7-9 LPA, though this number hides a massive spread depending on city, skill level, and sector.
India Inc. is projecting a 9.1% average salary increment in 2026, with manufacturing and automotive leading at 9.5% and IT services trailing at 6.9% (EY Future of Pay Report, 2026). If you’re setting salaries for your business or benchmarking your own pay, these are the numbers that matter.
For how to actually build a pay structure using these benchmarks, see our guide to designing pay structure for Indian businesses. For salary component breakdowns, see our salary structure components guide.
Key Takeaways
- National average salary: ₹7-9 LPA across all sectors and experience levels
- IT/software pays highest: ₹6-18 LPA for mid-level roles; AI/ML specialists command ₹20-35 LPA
- Manufacturing and automotive are seeing the highest 2026 increments at 9.5% (IBEF, 2026)
- IT services increments have slowed to 6.9%, down from 7.6% last year
What Are the Average Salary Ranges by Industry in India?
Salaries vary wildly depending on the sector. An entry-level software developer in Bangalore and an entry-level retail store executive in the same city might both be “freshers,” but one starts at ₹6 LPA and the other at ₹2.4 LPA. Here’s how the major industries stack up in 2026:
| Industry | Entry Level (0-2 yrs) | Mid Level (3-7 yrs) | Senior (8+ yrs) | 2026 Increment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT & Software | ₹4-8 LPA | ₹8-18 LPA | ₹20-40 LPA | 6.9% |
| BFSI (Banking, Finance) | ₹3-6 LPA | ₹6-14 LPA | ₹15-30 LPA | 9.1% |
| Manufacturing & Auto | ₹3-5 LPA | ₹5-12 LPA | ₹12-25 LPA | 9.5% |
| Pharmaceuticals | ₹3.5-6 LPA | ₹7-15 LPA | ₹16-30 LPA | 9.2% |
| Healthcare (clinical) | ₹3-5 LPA | ₹6-12 LPA | ₹12-25 LPA | 8.5% |
| Retail & FMCG | ₹2-4 LPA | ₹4-9 LPA | ₹10-18 LPA | 8.0% |
| Hospitality | ₹1.8-3 LPA | ₹3.5-8 LPA | ₹8-15 LPA | 7.5% |
| Construction & Real Estate | ₹2.5-4 LPA | ₹5-10 LPA | ₹10-20 LPA | 8.8% |
Sources: Compiled from EY Future of Pay 2026, IBEF, and Multiplier India salary data.
The gap between IT and hospitality at the entry level is 3-4x. At the senior level, it can be 2-3x. That gap has been widening over the past five years as tech salaries got pulled up by GCC hiring and startup funding, while service-sector wages stayed flat in real terms.
Why Do IT Salaries Still Lead Despite Lower Increments?
IT services increments have dropped to 6.9% in 2026, down from 7.6% the previous year. But IT still pays the highest absolute salaries. Why? Because the base is already high. A 6.9% increment on a ₹15 LPA mid-level salary adds ₹1,03,500. A 9.5% increment on a ₹7 LPA manufacturing salary adds ₹66,500. The IT employee still takes home more in absolute terms.
The real action in tech compensation isn’t in traditional IT services companies. It’s in GCCs (Global Capability Centres), which are projected to give 9% increments, as per the IBEF data cited above. A data engineer at a GCC in Hyderabad or Pune typically earns 30-40% more than the same role at a domestic IT services firm. And within IT, AI/ML specialists and cloud architects command ₹20-35 LPA even at mid-level, which skews the average upward.
What this means for SME hiring: If you’re a mid-sized manufacturing company in Chakan trying to hire an IT manager for your ERP, you’re competing with Pune’s GCC and IT services salary bands. Your ₹10 LPA offer for an “IT role” might seem reasonable for manufacturing, but the candidate has an ₹14 LPA offer from an IT company. Understanding which salary band you’re competing against, not just your own industry’s band, is how you stop losing hires.
How Do Salaries Differ Across Indian Cities?
A ₹10 LPA job in Bangalore doesn’t have the same purchasing power as ₹10 LPA in Jaipur. But companies in Bangalore also pay more because the talent pool expects more. City matters a lot.
| City Tier | Examples | Typical Premium vs National Average |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (metros) | Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad | +20-40% |
| Tier 1.5 | Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad | +10-20% |
| Tier 2 | Jaipur, Lucknow, Kochi, Chandigarh, Indore | Roughly at average |
| Tier 3 | Surat, Nagpur, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam | -10-20% |
A senior accountant at a textile company pulls ₹8-9 LPA in Mumbai. The same role at a similar-sized company in Coimbatore? ₹5.5-6.5 LPA. The skill set is identical. The cost of living and local talent supply set the price.
For businesses with branches across cities, this creates a problem. Do you pay the same CTC to a branch manager in Pune and one in Indore? Most companies don’t. They use city-wise salary bands, with 10-15% adjustments by tier. A logistics company in Bhiwandi with distribution centres in Nagpur and Lucknow runs three different band sets for the same roles.
What Are the Highest-Paying Roles in India Right Now?
Not all roles within an industry pay the same. Even within IT, a support engineer and an AI architect are worlds apart. Here are some of the highest-paying role categories across sectors in 2026 (Multiplier, 2026):
- AI/ML Engineers: ₹18-35 LPA (mid-level), up to ₹60 LPA at senior level in GCCs
- Cloud/DevOps Architects: ₹20-30 LPA
- Investment Banking Analysts: ₹12-25 LPA
- Pharmaceutical R&D Leads: ₹15-28 LPA
- Operations Heads (manufacturing): ₹18-30 LPA
- Hospital Administrators (large chains): ₹12-20 LPA
- Supply Chain Directors: ₹20-35 LPA
These are outlier roles. The median Indian employee earns nowhere near these numbers. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2025, average earnings for regular wage/salaried male workers were ₹24,217/month (₹2.9 LPA), and for female workers ₹18,353/month (₹2.2 LPA) (PIB, 2025). That’s the reality for the majority of India’s formal workforce.
What we see across 30,000+ Petpooja Payroll clients: The median CTC across our client base (which skews toward SMEs in hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and services) is closer to ₹3.2 LPA. That’s well below the national “average” of ₹7-9 LPA because our clients are mostly paying frontline staff like cooks, store assistants, machine operators, and delivery riders. The “average salary” headlines rarely reflect what small businesses actually pay.
How Should You Use This Data When Setting Salaries?
Knowing the market average is step one. Using it to make actual pay decisions is where most businesses get stuck.
Three things to keep in mind. First, don’t just match the industry average. Look at the specific role, city, and experience level. An “average manufacturing salary” of ₹7 LPA means nothing if you’re hiring a CNC operator in Rajkot (closer to ₹4 LPA) or a plant manager in Chennai (closer to ₹18 LPA).
Second, track attrition reasons. If three people leave in six months and all cite salary, your bands are below market. You don’t need a Mercer survey to figure that out. Your exit data is your cheapest benchmark.
Third, revisit your structure annually. The EY Future of Pay report shows that companies offering below-average increments are seeing 2-3% higher attrition than those at or above market, as per the EY report cited above. In a market where only 32% of organisations plan to expand headcount, retaining the people you already have is cheaper than replacing them.
Petpooja Payroll handles salary structure setup, TDS calculations across both tax regimes, and statutory compliance. If you’re benchmarking and restructuring salaries, having a system that can reconfigure CTC templates across departments without breaking PF or ESIC calculations saves a lot of manual rework.
For a step-by-step walkthrough on building salary bands from scratch, read our guide to designing pay structure linked in the introduction above.
Conclusion
Indian salary ranges in 2026 span from ₹1.8 LPA (entry-level hospitality) to ₹40 LPA+ (senior IT/GCC roles). The national average of ₹7-9 LPA masks a 3-4x gap between industries and a 20-40% gap between cities. Manufacturing and automotive are seeing the highest increments (9.5%), while IT services trails at 6.9% despite having the highest absolute salaries.
If you’re setting pay for your business, don’t use national averages. Benchmark by role, city, and experience. And revisit annually, because a structure that was competitive in 2024 is probably 15-20% behind market by now.
Petpooja Payroll can help you configure salary structures that stay compliant and competitive.
Frequently Asked Questions
The headline number is ₹7-9 LPA across all industries and experience levels. But that average is misleading. Median earnings for regular salaried workers are much lower: ₹24,217/month for men and ₹18,353/month for women, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2025. The “average” gets pulled up by high-paying IT and BFSI roles.
IT and software, by a wide margin. Mid-level roles pay ₹8-18 LPA, and senior roles hit ₹20-40 LPA. Within IT, GCCs pay 30-40% more than domestic IT services firms. AI/ML engineers and cloud architects are the highest-paid sub-roles, commanding ₹20-35 LPA at mid-level.
9.1% on average, according to the EY Future of Pay 2026 report. But it varies by sector. Manufacturing and automotive lead at 9.5%. Power and renewables hit 10.4%. IT services is the laggard at 6.9%, down from 7.6% the year before. NBFCs are projected at 10.1%.
Significantly. The same role can pay 30-40% more in Bangalore or Mumbai compared to Jaipur or Lucknow. Tier 1 metros command a premium because of higher cost of living and talent competition. Most multi-location companies use city-wise salary bands with 10-15% adjustments between tiers.
